-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- It seems that now someone called `` Barack Hussein Obama '' can be pulled aside and patted down merely because of his name . But while our president has the benefit of Air Force One , millions of us with a `` funny name '' -LRB- Muslim and otherwise -RRB- do not . Like me .

I 've consistently faced `` random '' selections for extra screening at the airport after I decided to wear the hijab , or Muslim head covering . I 've been told to take my head scarf off or have my head probed while the passengers in front of me offered pitying smiles as they rushed to their flights .

One time , the woman in front of me had a hairdo that could pose more of a security threat than any head scarf could . Muslim women wear the hijab as a symbol of modesty , to be judged not by their appearance .

The Rev. Martin Luther King , Jr. dreamed that people would be judged for `` the content of their character . '' However , the Transportation Security Administration is judging me and other Muslims by the way we look .

The TSA uses the hijab to profile Muslim women , and passengers can now expect a full-body pat-down , an appallingly invasive `` enhanced pat-down search that could include the chest and groin , or a planned `` mind-scan '' that would track people 's reaction to terrorist symbols . What 's next , palm reading ?

At an airport with a full body scanner , I can have the image of my body displayed before a stranger -- virtual nudity . Do they seriously have a blank check on our bodies ? Of course I care about profiling partly because I 'm affected . But does one have to face this issue to feel that it 's wrong ? After all , it is difficult to imagine ourselves in other people 's shoes when we do n't have to .

It 's hard for me too . Especially over the past month , I 've been shocked at the comments about my faith , and the sometimes-prejudiced support for racial profiling . Radio host Mike Gallagher said , `` There should be a separate line to scrutinize anybody with the name Abdul or Ahmed or Mohammed . '' Sorry Paula Abdul and Muhammad Ali , or anyone with the world 's most common name , Muhammad .

For people who are n't affected by racial profiling at airports , imagine this : The TSA implements a new rule to counter drunken driving , which kills over 13,000 Americans every year . People who are not Muslim have to go through a Breathalyzer test before they can enter their vehicle . Muslims do n't drink alcohol and are , therefore , exempt . Ridiculous ? I agree .

I know that what I am going through is just the tip of the iceberg of racial profiling in our country . Thirty-two million Americans report that they have been the victims of racial profiling . Racial profiling violates the U.S. Constitution , is ineffective and trickles down to the workplace , schools and elsewhere .

You also run into problems when you justify profiling nearly one in every four people in the world . There are Muslims of every possible race , making profiling practically futile . Fareed Zakaria said it best : `` When you 're trying to find a needle in a haystack , adding hay does not help you . ''

Putting ethical and pragmatic reasons aside , it 's hard to justify not caring . Even if racial profiling does n't affect us , it affects our friends , family members , co-workers , doctors , television personalities -- the list goes on . There are some people who do n't know Muslims and are numb to realizing the effects of profiling . Therein lies the problem .

According to the Pew Research Center , people who know Muslims are less likely to have negative views of them . Co-existence is a dismal possibility unless people go to the source to find out about Islam , not skewed Web sites .

And Muslims , here 's something to think about : If your knowledge of Islam came from common stereotypes , would n't you also be misinformed about the faith and its followers ? The Quran says , '' -LSB- God has -RSB- made you into nations and tribes , so that you might come to know one another -LRB- 49:13 -RRB- . '' So get to know your fellow Americans .

There are some Americans who think Muslims are terrorists and some Muslims who think that other Americans are willfully ignorant . Neither group deserves such a label . Psychologist Henri Tajfel , who was a Holocaust survivor , explained how we isolate ourselves into an `` in-group '' and facilitate discrimination of an `` out-group . ''

Religious profiling boxes Muslims into a category separate from Americans . We ca n't accept that distinction . Let 's all think outside of the box .

It 's essential for U.S. security that airport screening be done . But we need to stop the inflation of procedures that make our society more afraid and less secure . The TSA needs to stop and evaluate methods that are more effective , less invasive , and do n't discriminate based on religion or race .

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Nafees A. Syed .

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Nafees Syed : Millions face extra screenings at airports for having `` funny names ''

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Syed says she has been singled out for extra screening because of Muslim head covering

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She writes that racial profiling violates the U.S. Constitution and is ineffective

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Syed : We need to know one another and stop procedures that make us more afraid